McMahon campaign funding lags behind 2010 pace

Charles J. Lewis

Updated 12:16 am, Saturday, October 20, 2012

More Information

By the numbers
Linda McMahon's campaign war chest:
Total receipts as of Sept. 30, 2012: $29,324,500
Total receipts as of Sept. 20, 2010: $42,161,630
McMahon loans as of Sept. 30, 2012: $27,320,883
McMahon loans as of Sept. 30, 2010: $41,500,000

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WASHINGTON -- Republican U.S. Senate candidate Linda McMahon is again her own biggest campaign donor this year, but at a slower pace than in 2010 when she loaned $49.5 million to her failed bid for the U.S. Senate.

Her total campaign money this time around also trails her 2010 level, as of the end of the third quarters in both years.

In the current campaign to succeed retiring U.S. Sen. Joe Lieberman, McMahon has loaned $27,320,883 to her political organization, or 92 percent of her total receipts of $29,324,500, as of Sept. 30.

More than half -- $14,790,000 or 54 percent -- of the self-loans came in the third quarter of this year.

At this point in the election cycle two years ago, she had a much larger campaign total -- $42,161,630 -- with 98 percent coming in the form of her loans to the campaign.

In the 2010 race to succeed retiring Sen. Chris Dodd, McMahon lost to her Democratic opponent, veteran Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, who won with 55.1 percent of the vote.

Political scientist Gary Rose, of Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, Conn., evaluating McMahon's scaled-back finances, said the wealthy professional wrestling producer probably feels less urgency to spend money this time around because she has better name recognition and isn't running against a "household name" -- Blumenthal -- as she was in 2010.

"She's also probably sensitive to the charge from two years ago that she was trying to `buy the election' when she saturated the airwaves and mailboxes," Rose said. He also said McMahon's statewide organization this year appears much more formidable than in 2010, allowing her to spend less on advertising.

Despite lagging behind 2010 levels, McMahon's campaign funding far exceeds that of her Democratic opponent, U.S. Rep. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., who reported total campaign receipts of $8,487,109 as of Sept. 30. Murphy said he has made no loans to his campaign.

In contrast to 2010, when her campaign limited individual contributions to $100, McMahon is accepting the maximum $5,000 allowed under federal law, which is broken down into $2,500 for the primary and $2,500 for the general election.

This new policy explains the increase in her reported contributions this year, totaling $1,650,036 as of Sept. 30, compared with $654,094 two years ago.

Murphy has the edge in the all-important "cash on hand" category. The Democrat reported $2,242,874 in the bank, while McMahon said her campaign has $1,006,454 in the bank.